Lukewarm

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In one of the most sobering verses in the bible, Jesus said He will spit people out of His mouth!

 

 

 

the United States national debt over 23 to $20 trillion. And it’s just been discovered that most of that amount has been spent on the United States of America trying to find out what the definition of the word miserable is and it’s finally been concluded friends and that is lukewarm coffee and lukewarm soup. That’s a lot of money spent. But come on, let’s get real. What is more miserable than lukewarm coffee and lukewarm soup? Well, I think there’s one thing and that is a lukewarm christian today. We’re gonna be talking about luke warmness friends on the way of the master and we did not spend a penny on it because God’s word tells us how miserable that is joining me today on way of the master is the on fire ray comfort, the burning marks pants and your host the blazing arab cherub. Hey, I just got to say something. I really appreciated your brilliant because so many times someone says the word million billion trillion things. What did you say after? Right. You gotta enunciate. I know this isn’t about the national debt but give me a break. 23 trillion. How do you even quantify that? Now? You have dated the program. It’s going to be 40. Hopefully they’ll pay it off. So guys, we’re talking about luke warmness today. I remember as a new christian I had first I had no idea what the word meant, but I quickly learned it. Right? We know what jesus said in revelation. I will spew you out of my mouth. You’re lukewarm that became to me then one of my biggest fears as a christian, I do not want to be that right. If jesus is saying this is what I’m gonna do to those who are lukewarm, right? And we’re not gonna dive deeply into the theological repercussions of that or connotations of that, but it’s serious enough to stop and say, whoa, I don’t want to be whatever that really means. I don’t want to be a part of that and I think it should terrify us as christians. I want to get your thoughts gentlemen, as well as thoughts. No, I just want your thoughts, the whole program. Is that yeah. Is that what you think, right? Yeah, I leaned forward. The warmness. Yeah. Well what is a lukewarm christian? I think we should start off by defining what it is. It’s somebody who claims to be a christian, but their lifestyle gives them away to be something that they’re not really claiming to be right. So they don’t really pray, maybe if they’re in a bind, they’ll pray that they’re not in the word, they’re not heeding the words of christ, they’re not meditating on God’s word day and night, they find to be maybe gravitating more towards the things of the world, um desiring to live a secret life and then when they come to church on a sunday they put on their nice suits and they have their nice language, but really we know deep down inside, they’re not a christian, they desire the things of the world, not the things of the word, there is the difference, you know, I think it’s an oxymoron lukewarm christian. They’re not christians, they’re just lukewarm. And the bible says that. Um but I often say those that are lukewarm aren’t part of the body of christ, they’re merely weigh heavy within the stomach of the body of christ until such a time as he spews them out of his mouth. They haven’t passed through the the drag jagged edged teeth of God’s law to be broken and absorbed into his body. That becomes hands, feet in his mouth. Their mouths don’t preach the gospel of the creature. Their hands don’t reach out to the lost, their feet aren’t sharp. The preparation of the gospel of peace there or lukewarm in a category like judas who never really knew what jesus or who jesus was he never valued him as the treasure in earthen vessels, so to speak. He thought he’s worth about 30 pieces of self Ouch. How does that do for you? Is that a pretty good definition of what it means to be lukewarm. It’s terrifying. I mean, I don’t know, you know, honestly, I’m sitting here right now that the biggest thing going through my mind is why in the world has this become such an acceptable category within Christianity and and look, I know some of you are watching now and you’re thinking, what do you mean that isn’t that a like legitimate category. I mean, can you imagine, Hi, how you doing? My name is George lukewarm christian, good to meet you, you know. But in a sense though, it’s treated like, yeah, he’s, you know, he’s lukewarm, but he loves the Lord and he’s why? Why is it so acceptable? Because you think about the early believers huddled together in the catacombs, you know, being hunted like animals being torn from their families tortured, watching other christians being, you know, nailed the stakes knowing that that’s where they’re going. Yeah, we’re just, yeah, that’s cool. But we’re lukewarm. I mean, it just seemed like it wasn’t even an option, but it’s changed. Listen, your antenna should go up if you have your child comes to you and say Dad, how far can I go with my girlfriend and still be considered a christian. If you yourself are asking questions like this, how far can I stretch the truth at work? How much can I hold back from being honest on my taxes at tax season? You’re asking the wrong question. If this begins to fill your mind, you are not heading in the right direction, right. We should be. How far can I just, how can I be so heavenly minded that I am earthly good. I want my mind’s to my mind to be in the heavens. I want to be in the word, I want the outflow to be the overflow of my heart. My boy Nathaniel came to me and said, Dad, you know, I’m going through college, um, reading God’s word, I have no room for a girlfriend. I want to go after God more than anything. Well, that is the heart’s cry of anybody who has been born again. Let us lay aside any and all weight that is gonna so easily ensnare us from running the race with endurance. Yeah, Ray, you know, you have traveled the world and have preached in so many churches. You, you’ve done, uh, different outreaches where you’ve seen the casualness associated with people committing their life to christ, how much of this problem do you see happening at the entrance to the church? Well, that’s the problem. The fear of God has been preached from the pulpits, They’re not sons of thunder, they’re more motivational speakers. And what what’s lacking among these circled converts with the fear of God and what’s level with us so many times is that You can’t make people fear fear isn’t a legitimate fear tactic and reminds me of an advertisement I saw on television in the 1980s, have some dummies in the car. You know, there’s test dummies and there’s a head on collision and it goes into slow motion and a deep voice says what goes through the head of a dummy when it’s not remember that. And as the dummies, head gets crushed on the steering wheel. The male voice says the steering wheel, that’s what goes through the head, that’s that’s fear tactics, but it’s legitimate fear taxes because if you don’t wear your seatbelt, you could die just on television last night, two little girls aged about four or 5, crawled through this broken window of their car a vehicle and climbed up this cliff because they’ve gone down 100 about 100 yards down this cliff and their father was dead in the car and they were just destroyed the kids and said the kids were in seat belts in the back of the car and they had lived and their father was dead in the front without a seat belt on. He had failed to put a seatbelt on. And so that’s a fear tactic. And being fearful of God is legitimate, jesus said Fear not him his power to kill your body and afterwards can do no more, but fear him his power to kill your body and cast your soul into hell. So the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And when our teenagers and church don’t fear God, they haven’t begun to be wise, neither is the pastor, a wise pastor will preach the fear of God. He will open up the command. Let’s talk about the righteousness of God, the holiness of God, The justice of God, he won’t hold back, not be afraid to mention hell because he wants his converts or his congregation of Fear God, because it’s the beginning of wisdom. Yeah. And, and I think to what there is and maybe you guys can correct me if I’m wrong, but I think there’s a deficit when it comes to understanding the nature and character of God, that God is holy, that God requires righteousness, that God doesn’t look on sin lightly, but at the same time, God is a God of love, of Mercy, of Grace, that he’s our father. And really, I think that’s the difference between what you talked about. Oftentimes, fear filled convert versus tear filled converts. And the difference is that it’s not we’re not talking about when you say fear of God, obviously, right, You’re not talking about a terror, you’re talking about aw, respect honor, right? And seeing God, and in light of who he is. This sobriety in one sense, the psalmist says, my heart trembles for fear of you. So there is that therefore knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. But what you’re talking about the balance of it is seen at the cross. If you want to see the justice of God, the righteousness of God looked at the cross. If you want to see the love and mercy of God expressed, look to the cross. And that’s what should make us tremble at the thought that God would do that for us because sin is so serious for him. Yeah, Amen. You know, friends. Oftentimes when we think about sharing the gospel with someone, we’re thinking, oh, it’s gonna be this Atheist. Who’s gonna pummel me with questions that I can’t answer. It’s going to be these christian hating people that are going to attack me, but it’s not often times that more than likely here in America, you’re going to find people that maybe even claim to be christians, churchgoers, but they’ve got no passion for the Lord. I think you’ll see that in this example, Jason. How tall are you? Okay? Um, do you believe in God’s existence? Do you believe in God’s existence? Are you a good person? I try to be. How many lies have you told in your life? A good couple? You ever stolen something? Either that small in your whole life? Have you ever looked at a woman with lust? Do you still think you’re a good person? Um, there’s some of my actions, they would say I’m a good person, jesus said whoever looks at a woman and lusts for her has committed adultery already, With her in his heart. Have you ever looked at a woman with lust? Not since I’ve been married On Judgment Day. If God judges you by the 10 commandments, you’re going to be innocent or guilty? I’ll probably be guilty heaven or hell. Um, I’m hoping heaven, but hopefully not hell. Do you know what God did for guilty sinners? So we wouldn’t have to go to hell gave his only son, what did God do? So he wouldn’t have to end up in hell, Any idea? Um what did he do? Well, I know he gave us the 10 commandments. He, well God can completely exonerate. You forgive you dismiss your case, commute your death sentence in an instant because Jesus paid the fine on the cross. His last words were, it is finished. In other words, the debt has been paid and then he rose from the dead and defeated death. That means God can legally dismiss your case. He can, he can be true to justice and yet extend mercy towards you because the fine was paid by christ on the cross. What you have to do is repent and trust alone in him. So Jason if you would have died today and God gave you justice, you’d end up in hell. There are two things you have to do to be saved. You must repent and trust in christ. When are you going to do that? I have repented and I do trust him. Like I said, I do live there today, I’m not gonna give you a little test. You said you’re a good person, is that right? Well Jesus said there’s none good, but God, so who’s lying? You or jesus? There are two things you have to do to be saved. You must repent and trust in christ. When are you going to do that? Um I feel like I’ve already done that. My I go to church with my girlfriend if you’re really trusting in christ, you wouldn’t forget about the cross. All I’m saying is Jason if you saw me on the edge of a plane 10,000 ft up, my parachute was loose. Would you tell me, I’m telling today things need to be tightened up when it comes to your salvation. That’s all I’m saying. I’m not judging. I’m saying Jason, I see signs because I talked to a lot of people that things are a little loose and you need to tighten things up and repent and fully trust christ. Now when you last read your bible actually, probably about three or four weeks ago before I started this whole school process. Okay, when’s your last feed your stomach last night? Okay. So which is first in your life your bible or your belly should be, should be the bible. But then again, I can’t read the bible. If I die of hunger, just say no bible, no breakfast. Put God’s word first. You’re not going to die of hunger. I’m saying your parachute is loose and I want you to tighten it up today. Don’t say Yeah, I think I’ve done that now. This is too important to say. I think I’ve done that you want to know you are saved because you don’t know when you’re gonna die? I pray every night. I pray for my family. We pray before we eat dinner together. Can I just mention something here. Most people pray. It’s easy to pray. But praying as us talking to God the bible is God speaking to us and we need to be swift to hear and slow to speak. So I’m encouraging if you love your family, make sure you’re right with God yourself, share the gospel with your family, make sure they’re right with the Lord and then read the word with them daily and that’s what you need to do like today and don’t do it kind of half heartedly yield everything. Are you having sex with your girlfriend? No. Right, nah. And are you looking at pornography? I don’t try to. But sometimes, yeah. Yeah. So I’m saying if you’re a christian, you wouldn’t dare do those things because you fear God. You know, you know he sees everything and he holds you accountable. So I’m saying kind of mean business today. Just yield everything to the Lord and don’t do it because I’m telling you to but do it because you want to please the God that gave you life and you want to lead those that you love into a knowledge of eternal life also. Does that make sense? Yeah, I went I went to church this morning. Really? So something’s happening. There’s a stirring going on and I pray that God would lead me to the right person today and has led me to you. So please think about what we talked about when you do that you have a bible. I haven’t been able to find it. But I know it’s somewhere you’ve got 20,000 on your phone. That’s how many how many bibles you can download on your on your phone. So you’ve got access to God’s word, because Jesus said, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. So this is vital. Obviously you love your wife, you love your family. So make sure that love is put into practice by you being the head of your house spiritually and leading those that you love into everlasting life. Does that make sense? Ray? I love your questions. You ask some of the most embarrassing pointed questions, but you know what blows my mind is people actually answer you? You know, I mean, Ray speak to that dynamic because honestly, I mean if I just walk up to someone, hey, you having sex with your girlfriend. First of all, you have a way of not getting punched in the nose. I know I would get decked right there and then but they do, they do reactively and it’s not like at the end because you know, obviously there on camera, So we’re thinking maybe they’re being a little tempered but you turn the camera off and you don’t get beat up. So why did Why don’t people beat you up? I wouldn’t you want to see if you can get something, I wouldn’t have done this 20 years ago, I wouldn’t have asked questions. Like ask young people do have sex because no one talked about, they were ashamed embarrassed nowadays there’s no shame and say, you know, I had lunch, don’t have sex, the girlfriend others and there’s there’s no sense of wow, I’ve done something terribly wrong. And so my thought is if this embarrasses them good because this is gonna be nothing compared to what’s gonna happen on judgment day when all your secret sins come out and everything you’ve done in darkness is gonna come out in pure light. And so I am, I am actually shuttering inside often when I asked, you know people you having sex, but when it comes out it brings the knowledge of sin. I say fornicators will not inherit the kingdom of God. Got to tell them if we love him. I think in the final analysis they’re going to realize this guy must really care because he’s crazy. And then he would ask me that question, but there must be something more motivating him. Mark. We were talking last night with a friend who told us that they had to be extremely forthright with a mormon that wanted to pray a blessing over them that it was in a kind of a corporate environment and they work together in this company and but they had to be honest, they had to just say, look, you know, I have to be candid with you, we don’t believe the same things. And and even another guy that tried to say publicly mormons and christians were the same and he had to clarify that as well. And in those instances he said that people almost respected him more. That’s a biblical concept, isn’t it? He rebukes the man right? You know, there’s never a wrong time to speak up and do that, which is right. You know, luke warmness has become the accepted temperature of the church. And if you’re not going to speak up, nobody is going to speak up. Because so many churches today, so many youth groups have become kind of social gatherings. People go to church and they might even give their tithes because they’re appeasing their conscience right? You’ve done a lot of talk on this, we hear about celebrities that have just given multi, millions of dollars to charities and you kind of put your, your pulse on that. But what was the reasoning why you said that become more pious? They realized that they, until their clothes off and their youth did things that were really wrong and they think I’ve got to balance out the scales, they’ve got money here. I’m going to give it to global warming or some good charity and it’s gonna make me feel better and it’s something that’s an abomination to God mafia mafia members do that, don’t they build hospitals, They, you know, while they’re doing their others when I come across somebody who is lukewarm, you know, or maybe I’m out on the street and I’m sharing the gospel with them. And this guy says, hey, I’m a christian. You know, me and my girlfriend were christians were just talking about today. You know when we woke up this morning that we need to go to church again or we need to read the word again. You know, our antenna should pop up when we hear something like that. I always challenge them with the text of two peter 1 10, right? It says therefore brethren be even more diligent to make your call in your election. Sure. I’m always challenging people with that always challenge them. Did you repent when you became a christian? Yes. What did you repent of? Because it sounds like there’s some things that are still missing in that list of items that you need to repent over. You need to agree with God that you’re wrong. He’s right. You need to turn from your wicked ways and I have no problem telling that turn and live turn and live and we’ll see what happens when we do as you mentioned earlier on about being fearful of becoming lukewarm lukewarm. This needs to be seen as a horrible insult to God. If I said to my wife, sweetheart, I’m becoming lukewarm about you, It’s a terrible insult to her. I want to be hot and on fire for my wife. Always loving it with heart, mind soul and strength. So how much more the God that gave my wife to me after his evidence. Just love toward us in christ, dying on the cross. We should never become lukewarm even slightly. And if we do, we’ve never seen the cross and I’ve never seen the cross. We’ve never seen our sin because he that loves much, has forgiven much. He has forgiven much, loves much ray. I love how you connect that. I think people can relate when we use analogies. Like would you do that to your wife in a video recently in one of our episodes, you were talking to a young lady and you asked her if she ever uses her mom’s name in vain after she said she uses gods and you said, why not? He said because I love and respect her. And then you turned the table on her and said, do you not love and respect God enough to not use? And those are spotlights, spotlights on sin and and you know to to watch a person get humbled as you confront them. I quoted a part of the proverb earlier, he rebukes the man and I stopped. But the the rest of it is after well afterwards find more favor than he who flatters with the tongue and scripture tells us that we’re living in a day where people want others to tickle their ears and they know when someone’s not going with it and again, you don’t have to be harsh. That’s the magic of it. It’s not like you sinner, that was terrible. That made us both born to repent. Yeah, on the street, you know, tickling is such a terrible thing to do when someone’s in terrible danger, it better be slapped on the face than have your ear tickled. If you’re in danger, you don’t know it. And that’s the predicament that sinners are in, they’re in terrible mortal danger and they don’t realize that death seizes upon them and they’re damn. That is a horrible beyond words that should drive faster to pleading with sinners and warning them because we love them. Yeah. And repentance in the pulpits, we we’ve talked about it a number of times, but I can’t get away from it because as Mark mentioned, you know, the couple that’s talking about, Yeah, we woke up in bed, but as a pastor, I had a number of couples who wanted to get married through our church and they’d call and yeah, and they’ve come in, you know, we’re doing counseling and then it leads to you as we left the house this morning or in our home and what and then they look at you when you say you guys are living together. Yeah, yeah, like what do you mean? And it’s because the church has done that Rachel and I constantly like want to rip our hair out and we talk about it and we call it american Christianity. Here we go, american Christianity where you cannot tell the difference anymore between the church and the world, there’s no difference. I mean, and we forget what scripture says. If you’re a friend of the world, you’re an enemy of God. If you love the world, how can the love of God be in you? You know? It’s let me read a passage here from the the evidence bible in revelation chapter three It says in verse 18, I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich and white garments that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may be revealed and anoint your eyes with eye salve that you may see as many as I love. I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Repent, right? We we must and I like the way it’s it’s worded there. There there really is a threefold course of action here we remember from where we fell, we repent. We change our mind. We agree with God and we return back to that first fruits. There could be times inside your life where you’re stumbling and you’re falling. You’re doing things, you’re saying things your particular things that you should not. But this is the order, right. We remember, We repent and we return, remember repent. Return, Return and live, repent and live. Remember and live. Amen. Yeah. And that’s the second part of the first part, we’ve been talking about that’s jesus speaking to the Church of Cappadocia, right? And where he told them if you’re lukewarm, here’s what’s going on. But this is, yeah, the solution repentance, You know, Ray repentance has become Like a bad word to people. It carries negative connotations when it should be the most positive thing imaginable. I mean, imagine right, someone tells you, Hey, you’re going to prison for 40 years and here’s what you’re gonna be doing. And then you actually enter prison and they say, Hey, all you have to do is repent and you’ll get out of prison. Repent would not be seen as a negative word. What right? People don’t get excited. And I feel like we need to drive that home to people to help them recognize, hey, with God, when you deny you’re guilty, you stay guilty and incur greater guilt. When you admit you’re guilty, he makes you innocent and and he brings you right, like what scripture talks about. If you cover your transgression, you won’t prosper, but you confess and forsake or you know, the whole repentance and contrition thing. You know, Godly sorrow works. Repentance is so often comes to mind when you’re on the freeway and someone cuts you off, It makes you very angry happens to all of us, Someone in my life, you could have, what are you crazy? The person turns around says sorry and you go, oh, that’s okay? I’ll do that sort of thing myself, let’s be friends, what’s your phone number, You know, because contrition or sorrow for transgression immediately dissipates anger just it’s gone. Well, I’m not angry at that person anymore. And exactly the same comes with it with God. He’s angry at us. His wrath abides upon us. But the moment we come to him with a contract heart that anger dissipates and mercy comes to us because of the cross. The provisions already been made for us to receive mercy. And so the same applies with everything, every other, every other person and the moment that they’re genuinely sorry, you just feel, oh I love that person again and such a principle in the christian walk, Amen. Oh such good stuff. Well, friends in keeping with being a person who is not lukewarm. There is that element of a life of communion with God, a prayer, life that is dynamic and alive and also an attitude of perseverance of sticking it out when things get done to talk about that our good friend and pastor, pastor Phil DeCourcy is gonna share a few words with us and this was filmed by the way in the land of Israel jesus said, keep asking. It will be given to you, keep seeking and you will find keep knocking and it will be open to you for everyone who asks receives and he who seeks finds and to him who knocks it will be opened. We’re able to fly around the world today because the wright Brothers persisted until they conquered the law of gravity. So keep on knock, knock, knocking on heaven’s door, pray according to God’s will until God opens the door. Because prayer is not the overcoming of God’s reluctance, but the laying hold of God’s willingness. Keep in mind what Charles Spurgeon the prince of preachers said of the slowest of creatures by perseverance. The snail reached the ark, the real unanswered prayer is the prayer that you and I stopped praying. That’s a good one. From the Irishman Mark, we hear pastor phillips every week. He’s our pastor. What a blessing Godly man and what a what a powerful truth, you know, perseverance in the christian life. I often say that in fact I said it I think yesterday that prayer is truly the barometer of where the christian is at spiritually. If a person is praying, you know that they’re in tune with the Lord and especially when they persevere in prayer because it’s tough times that make us push away. But if we truly love the Lord, we’re gonna keep crying out to him and seeing him as the center of our lives. Sometimes tough times push us away. But when I’m in a lion’s den, that’s when I pray best. Yeah, Right, Lord, don’t let these lions hate me. I’d love to hear your prayer in the lion’s den, right, what would it be? Oh, I don’t like there’s lots of like hell, no, I’d say look at all these lots of lions licking their lips and looking at me for lunch. Help me Lord! It would be it would be help your hot prayer. Makes your fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much friends. We hope that your soul is stirred today, stirred first of all, to look into say, wow, maybe I’m not a christian. We’re not being harsh by telling you that we’re being loving because the last thing you want is to die and stand before a Holy God before jesus christ. And to hear him say to you on that day, depart from me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you. We don’t want that for you. So as we alluded to earlier in the program, examine yourself to see if you’re in the faith, make your call an election sure. And if you profess to know christ, there’s no time to waste. Be hot for him, be on fire for him and watch him use you for his glory. Thanks for joining us. We’ll see you next time on way The Master, We hope this episode of Wave the Master has inspired you to share the message of eternal life. You can watch our award winning movies such as the Atheist Delusion freely on our website or you’ll also find articles, videos, and audio messages as well as books, dvDS, gospel tracts and other resources to help you share your faith Biblically and effectively make sure to visit living waters dot com today

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